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Trivia:

When Charley bluffs his way onto the set of Peter Vincent's Fright Night show, the music heard playing over the rehearsal is from Henning Lohner's score for 2005 vampire film _Bloodrayne (2005)_.See more »

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Charley's mom's minivan was rear-ended after they had stopped, both of the van's front airbags deployed. Airbags are specifically designed NOT to deploy during a rear impact.See more »

Quotes:

[first lines] Announcer:Defy reason. Defy everything you know. A mind blowing experience of the occult and supernatural. Peter Vincent. A magical tour de force. Peter Vincent. Welcome to Fright Night. Onstage at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.See more »

Remaining in the same vein as many recent horror outings, "Fright
Night" is more of an eerie action comedy than a straight-out scare
fest. Good. That's my favorite type, especially considering scares in
and of themselves hardly garner a pull anymore. Also, with a title like
"Fright Night," we have an understanding with the filmmakers that we're
getting one of those throwback horror flicks. You know, the ones that
gave the horror genre that fun movie-going reputation it had in the
80′s before tasteless gore and tiresome predictability defiled the
genre? This film succeeds on that promise, quickly turning itself into
the quintessential "fun" horror flick perfect for Friday night.

Styled after Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window" (which inspired its own
modern retelling, "Disturbia") with a suave vampire living next-door
instead of a mysterious stranger, this plot is very similar to its
original. Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin; "Star Trek") is a ex-nerd
who has joined 'the cool crowd,' dropping his oldest friend "Evil" Ed
(Christopher Mintz-Plasse; "Kick-Ass") for a hot cheerleader girlfriend
(Imogen Poots; "28 Weeks Later"). Things are looking oh-so-grand for
the little flake (I mean, come on, any guy who hurtfully tells his
friend "the day my life got better was the day I stopped hanging with
you" is well a douche), he gets a new next-door neighbor that his mom
(Toni Collette; "The Sixth Sense") takes a liking to: Jerry Dandrige
(Colin Farrell; "Horrible Bosses"). Now Jerry seems like a cool guy,
but as we all know, you don't cast Colin Farrell to be your average
next-door neighbor. Ed's attempts to convince Charley that Jerry is
actually a vampire fail, but when Ed himself goes missing and Jerry
shows proof of what he is, Charley goes to the only person who might
have the answer: Peter Vincent (David Tennant; "Doctor Who"), the Las
Vegas magician who boasts of supernatural knowledge on how to kill
vampires.

The choice to modernize the original 1985 "Fright Night" doesn't like
that bright an idea considering the current rule that all horror
remakes suck, but somehow this became a unique effort due to diligent
actors, a reliable director, and successful laugh and scare gags. It
is, without exaggeration, the first great entry in the long line of
atrocious horror remakes. It takes what we liked about the original and
comes up some clever changes that update the story 26 years to the
present.

From an ingenious kill method at the end to wickedly suspenseful chase
scenes, "Fright Night" boasts some surprisingly memorable scenes  some
of which are incredibly suspenseful considering we think we should know
what to expect from a vampire thriller. The opening is a startling 3D
shot through dark thunderclouds that ends in an impeccably-executed
family massacre. With Craig Gillespie's (the outstanding director of
"Lars and the Real Girl") imaginative direction and Ramin Djawadi's
(scorer of "Iron Man" and "Mr. Brooks") jarringly effective and wholly
memorable musical score, the film hits all the beats it strives for
with manic zeal.

The all-star cast deliver a gratifying romp of suspense and chuckles,
but the movie belongs to its villain and its anti-hero, Colin Farrell
and David Tennant. The rest give solid performances (especially
Mintz-Plasse), but they pale compared to the main act.

Colin Farrell, when given the opportunity, revels in the grittiness of
villainy whenever he can. For Jerry Dandrige, Farrell is at an all-time
evil high and unchains his dark side. Part Hannibal Lector in his
charming menace and part Buffalo Bill in his vicious brutality, Farrell
carves himself a sweetly unpredictable part filled with great moments
(from his menacing way of asking for a six-pack of beer to his ultimate
way of overstepping house invitation rules to a great moment where his
decision to do absolutely nothing produces far worse results).

The fascinating part about Jerry is he isn't like regular vampires. He
seems more inspired by the worst of modern serial killers than mythical
killing machines, with his secret torture rooms and closet full of
dozens of uniforms signifying authority (from firemen to the post
office to the police). He's modern without being "Twilight." He's a
ominous hulking mass. Those characteristics mixed together with his
bizarre personality create a rather unique Hollywood vampire. Due to
this, I wish the "transformation" to full-on vampire face was never
included, as it is poor CGI and takes away from Farrell's menace.

David Tennant, who I will admit I adore as the 10th Doctor Who, is a
cinematic gem. His acting style has always been that of a Shakespearean
extremist, and I can't think of a better role that has such obvious
wicked glee in allowing him to let loose. There is something strangely
mesmerizing in Tennant's scenes as the vulgar
magician-turned-vampire-killer, especially in his first big scene where
his vehemence and wide-eyed enthusiasm is outstandingly exaggerated.
Also, seeing him acting with a giant shotgun is way more fun than I
expected it to be. He's about as entertaining  if not more so  than
the performance given by Roddy McDowall.

In the end, what really matters about this movie? Is the movie
suspenseful and thrilling? Yes, especially when Jerry really is allowed
to let loose his menacing charm and kill with the same love of general
violence of a "Reservoir Dogs" character. Is the movie funny when it
tries to be? Absolutely. The pop culture references  especially in a
crack on "Twilight" and comparing Jerry to the shark from "Jaws"  work
particularly well. This is a huge amount of fun. So if you walk into
this expecting the right kind of movie, "Fright Night" is that perfect
Friday night scare.

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